Engineering and project management consultancy RSV Enco Consulting (Enco) reports that it is the main consultant for the construction of a permanent 30 MW alternative source power plant project to supply electricity to a coal mine in South Africa.
Enco CEO Neels Engelbrecht explains that the company will assist in the build- ing of the power plant, as the coal miner needs to generate its own electricity and State-owned power utility Eskom is only able to provide power to the project in about five years.
Enco, which is one of the linked enter- prises of engineering and project management consultancy Read Swatman & Voigt, is currently busy with the costing exercise for the project, with a final decision regarding the start of construction being finalised this month.
Enco will not supply the technology or equipment for the power plant but, with the consent of the client, it will coopt specialists with expertise in certain fields into the project team.
South Africa鈥檚 power woes have resulted in many of Enco鈥檚 clients experiencing diffi- culties with power supply to their projects.
鈥淎s part of Enco鈥檚 offering to its clients, independent power producers were investigated. The company provides the balance of work, which includes plant engineering, overarching facilitation and project management,鈥?explains Engelbrecht.
Coal Mining
Enco is currently working on mining company Sasol Mining鈥檚 Thubelisha and Impumelelo coal mine projects, in Mpumalanga. The mines will supply the export market and petrochemicals giant Sasol鈥檚 coal-to-liquids operations, in Secunda, replacing two of the existing Sasol Mining coal mines, Tweefontein and Brandspruit.
Enco has established a site at the more than R5-million Impumelelo mine project, which should start production in October 2014. The contract involves the engineering, procurement and construction management of a new 8,5-million-ton-a-year coal mine, which is upgradable to 10,5-million tons a year.
The Impumelelo project involves the development of shaft systems (servicemen and material, ventilation and decline shafts) and the development of materials handling systems, namely a 28 km overland conveyor, surface surge bunkers and underground conveyors and surge bins.
The supporting mine infrastructure includes offices, workshops, a change house, upgrading of district roads, mine roads and parking as well as power supply and distribution, a communication system, water supply and reticulation, sewage and wastewater handling and pollution control.
At Sasol鈥檚 R3,3-billion Thubalisha shaft project, Enco has managed the sinking of three shafts, which cost about R500-million, and intends to establish the underground infrastructure and complete the surface infrastructure this year.
The supporting mine infrastructure includes offices, workshops, a change house, water and power supply and a new South African National Roads Agency Limited N17 interchange, which provides access to the new mine.
The contract, which includes the commissioning, handover and development of the complete mine complex, is a joint venture (JV) between Enco and engineering consultancy Goba.
The project also involves the development of an 18 km overland conveyor, a surge bunker and underground conveyors and surge bins, costing about R850-million.
鈥淭hubelisha will accommodate the first production section in January 2012 and build up to full production with 12 continuous miners and three stonework sections in 2015,鈥?says Engelbrecht.
Diversified energy company Total Coal South Africa鈥檚 Dorstfontein East coal mine project, in Kriel, Mpumalanga, will be handed over in May.
Enco was contracted to design and construct the mine, which will produce coal from an opencast mine at 3,6-million tons of coal a year and process the run-of- mine coal production in a coal processing plant.
鈥淭he product will be transported using an overland conveyor to a rapid load-out terminal, which is connected to State- owned rail transport enterprise Transnet鈥檚 freight rail system to the Richards Bay Coal Terminal,鈥?explains Engelbrecht.
Meanwhile, global diversified mining group Xstrata鈥?s Tweefontein optimisation project is undergoing a bankable feasibility study, which will be completed in mid-2011, he concludes.
The services provided included project management, civil, mechanical and electrical design, drafting and quantity surveying services.